


Almost Alone

by Madashatters



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bullying, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Love Confessions, Other, Suicide mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 11:08:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16852888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madashatters/pseuds/Madashatters
Summary: You’ve been bullied your entire life in Riverdale and at this point you were used to it. Then a petition for your suicide is placed in front of you and it finally gets to you. And to your surprise, Cheryl Blossom. She makes sure that you’re okay and even threatens revenge. But why?





	Almost Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Anon Requested: can you do a Cheryl x reader wherein Cheryl finds out the reader gets bullied a lot and she doesn’t handle it well
> 
> Dec 22nd, 2017

In your short time on Earth, you had learned one fact; life sucked. This lesson was taught helpfully by your lovely, fellow students at Riverdale High. Though, you wish you could say it started in high school but really it started the first day you walked into class. Somehow it was decided that you were the perfect target and who were you to disagree? You had no friends to defend you and no knowledge that you could do it yourself but in high school, they really stepped it up. The cliches in movies amount to nothing when it’s real life. Sure there’s laughing and whispers but more than that there’s bloody noses and black eyes. All done by accident of course; lockers opening at the wrong time, collisions when rounding corners, it was all your fault and you understood that. You were the punching bag of the town and you were at terms with it. If someone had failed their test, you were shoved in the hallway, if someone was just having a bad day, they took it out on you. And that was okay but it didn’t change the fact that life sucked.

If you had friends, it would’ve been better but you were as alone as a person could be. Sure, Jughead was considered the outcast and the loner but he had friends, a loving girlfriend, the ability to walk and not be attacked or harassed. He had it all. All you had was the knowledge of everything happening around you, no one really cared if you overheard. Who could you tell? Surprisingly, the person who never bullied you was Cheryl Blossom, the bully to end all bullies. She was the closest thing to a friend you had. You never talked or really interacted but sometimes you would catch her looking at you and whatever you saw gave you the power to keep going. That is until the petition.

* * *

\----

You got it at lunch when you were actually eating in the cafeteria instead of hiding in the bathroom. You were having a pretty good day, all that had happened was a couple of shoves and whispers which to you was a triumph. You sat at the empty side of a table where Jughead and his friends sat. They never really cared, only giving you pity glances and keeping their distance. One of the football players had dropped it off, he had even talked with Archie happily before doing it. You were somewhat shocked that he didn’t dunk your head into your own food but instead, smiled at you and ran off. You had looked down at the paper he placed and felt your heart drop.  _Petition for Y/N’s Suicide_  was spelled beautifully at the top and suddenly you could  _feel_  the eyes on you. You pushed away your food and brought the paper towards you, almost scared to touch it. You could hear whispers coming from the other side of the table and somehow that made it even worse that now, they’ve become like everyone else. 

You flipped through the pages, because there were  _pages,_ of signatures, the tears pushing to escape your eyes more and more with every name you saw. But you couldn’t cry, you wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of a reaction. You reached the last page and the urge to cry became even harder because one after another the people next to you had signed. You lifted your head and only looked at them, ignoring the expectant gazes from everyone else. You didn’t say a word, you never talked before there was no reason to start now, but you really thought they were different. That, unspoken, they had your back. Veronica opened her mouth to try and say something but what could she say when she didn’t know your name? 

You nodded and smiled though it felt more like a grimace. You unfolded the petition and placed it into your backpack before calmly standing and leaving the cafeteria. You ignored all the shocked looks and whispers as to ‘where are the tears?’ and walked out the front doors, the tears they wanted so badly escaping in heaves. 

* * *

\----

What you had missed in your escape was the loud and angry “What the  _fuck_ is wrong with you lab rats?” that had came when you walked out. To everyone’s surprise, it was from Cheryl, who had just learned what was placed in front of you. In her anger, she slapped the football player who was bragging about coming up with the idea. 

“What is your problem Blossom?” He had stood up, looming over Cheryl but she didn’t stand down. Archie and the rest made their way to stand behind Cheryl, curious more than anything. The football player shrugged it off after seeing the backup Cheryl had. “They’re just a nobody, we were having some fun.” 

“What did you do?” Archie stepped up, glaring at his teammate. 

The football player’s girlfriend sighed from where she sat, annoyed that her fun was being interrupted. “We started a petition for the brat’s suicide. You should know, you signed it.” She smirked as she waited for their reactions. Veronica held on to Betty like she was going to be sick. “So sad we couldn’t get the Queen Bee here to sign, I’m sure that would’ve broken them.” 

Cheryl stepped towards the girl, anger radiating off of her. Jughead stepped in front of her before she could do anything else. “Get out of my way hermit.”

Jughead tightened his hold on Cheryl’s arms, “You can’t fight the entire school Cheryl. You’re the only one who isn’t on that list, you have to go find them.” 

Cheryl tore herself out of Jughead’s grasp, “Fine.” She walked closer to the pair, bending down to look them in the eyes. “I will make your life, and  _everyone_  who signed that list who knew what they were doing, a living hell.” She smiled darkly, the two started to squirm in their seats, “Enjoy this time because it  _won’t_  last.” She then jumped back up and threw her hair as she turned to follow you. 

* * *

\----

Your house was empty when you got there which wasn’t a shock to you, you were alone in practically every sense of the word after all. And it wasn’t like you wanted someone to see you as you sobbed and screamed while hugging yourself. You weren’t going to do anything, more so to not give them the satisfaction of your death, but it would be a lie to say you weren’t thinking about it. How could you not when everyday felt like hell on Earth? A person could only hide behind books and fake smiles for so long. An end was promising to believe in. But for so many people to want you to just  _stop_ for doing nothing other than live, it hurt. It hurt so fucking bad. 

You were interrupted from your sorrow by a gentle knock on your door. You looked up only to stare at it, you were just realizing that you didn’t even make it to the couch. You had just fallen on the floor, cowering into yourself and you couldn’t find it in yourself to get up and pretend like everything was okay. The knock came again, this time with a quiet “C’mon Y/N, I know you’re in there.” Your eyebrows raised as you continued to watch the door, almost scared that it would open on its own. Someone knew your name, someone was saying your name as if it mattered. That never happened. 

From your spot on the floor you rose your voice as loud as it could go, “Who is it?” You wouldn’t be able to handle seeing Betty or Veronica after seeing their name signed so perfectly on those lines. 

“It’s Cheryl,” Your confusion deepened even more, why would the queen of Riverdale High be outside your house? You stood up on shaky legs and wiped your face as best you could, trying to catch your breath. You opened the door cautiously, scared that it was some kind of evil trap to dig your hole even deeper. All that you saw was Cheryl with a tentative smile, “If I had time, I would’ve brought flowers.” 

You leaned against the door frame, trying to pretend like you weren’t on a metaphorical ledge. “I don’t need your pity, you don’t have to pretend like you care.” 

“It’s a good thing I’m not pretending then.” There was a determination in her eyes but there was also something else that you couldn’t quite place, it was the same thing you saw every time you caught her looking at you. While you studied her, to see if she was honest or not, she took a deep breath as if she had finally decided on a life changing decision. “Did you hear about what happened at sweetwater river this past winter?” You tilted your head, you knew about Jason’s body but that was in Summer. You didn’t hear about something happening in the winter. “I’ll take that as a no. I tried to see my brother again.” 

“What-” Your eyes widened when you realized what Cheryl meant. 

“Will that admission allow me in?” You numbly turned to the side and let Cheryl pass, closing the door when she walked in. She picked up the petition from the floor, you hadn’t even realized you had taken it out of your backpack. “This isn’t all real you know.” You raised an eyebrow. “They tricked people into signing it. That school is full of assholes but there are some good people.” 

You sighed, you wanted to believe it but something inside you couldn’t. “So you just wanted to defend your friends?” 

She sat down on your couch and crossed her legs, patting the empty cushion next to her. You slowly made your way towards her and sat down, making sure to keep distance between the two of you. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“That’s a first.” You mumbled it more to yourself but you weren’t surprised that she had heard you. “Why? Why care now? I’m not going to do anything if that’s what you’re worried about, you can save yourself the trouble.” 

She stared at you, a sadness in her eyes that you hated to see. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through. No one should have to go through life alone.”

“People have been through worse.” Your gaze flickered to her before returning to your lap. You shrugged, “I’ll survive.” 

“There’s always a worse situation Y/N, that doesn’t mean that what you’re going through isn’t any less real or important.” She placed a hand on your shoulder, a comforting gesture that you wished didn’t mean as much as it did. “Someone should’ve stood up for you a long time ago. _I_  should’ve.”

You shook your head, “No, I should’ve stood up for myself.”

“You can’t fight an army with only one soldier.” She moved a little closer, your legs almost touching. 

You laughed wetly, “You’ve got a lot of deep metaphors in your sleeve.” 

Cheryl smirked, “I got more than just that. You wanna get revenge on those idiots?” 

“I-” Cheryl seemed genuine when she said she wanted to help you but you weren’t sure if you wanted to stoop to their level. You didn’t think revenge was the answer. “I think I have a better idea.” 

* * *

\----

You walked into school the next day like nothing had happened. Everyone was too shocked to see you that no one touched or shoved you, they didn’t even look at you. You smiled at everyone you passed by and went through your classes with a breeze. It still hurt because of course it did but the defeated looks on some people’s faces was well worth hiding it. It wasn’t long before the football player and his gang showed up, scowls on all their faces. “Shouldn’t you be at the end of a rope by now?” 

You tilted your head, seeing him in a new light. Either he was extremely insecure or he was an actual psychopath. A new voice chimed in behind you before you could answer, “Shouldn’t you be in jail?” You turned your head to see Cheryl and the core four behind you. Cheryl stepped up and got into the football player’s face, you stifled a laugh when he took a step back. “After all, that little petition can be seen as a death threat. Wouldn’t want the sheriff to get a hold of that now would you?” 

“Until then, coach has a couple of words for you, Jake.” Oh, his name was Jake. You turned to Archie, surprised that he was contributing to this. “To all of you.”

Cheryl turned her shark like smile on the cheerleaders in the group, “You can kiss your vixen uniforms goodbye.” 

Veronica joined in, “And as for the rest of you,” She turned to look at Betty who smiled sweetly as she addressed the group. “We’ll be sure you get what’s coming to you.” 

The group stared at all of you in shocked silence. Cheryl sighed, annoyed. “Shoo shoo you heathens. Your punishments will be dealt out accordingly.” 

Cheryl then turned to you and you couldn’t help but return her smile, “I thought I said no revenge.”

“Oh that? That was no where near revenge, sweetheart.” 

You shook your head and turned to the core four, “Thank you, for doing that. You didn’t have to.” 

Jughead was the one to talk for the group, one loner to another. “I’m sorry it took us this long to step in or to be your friend.”

You shrugged, “It’s okay.”

His eyes set on you, determined to get their message across. “No it’s not, we should’ve been there for you.”

You looked at the faces around you and smiled, maybe you weren’t so alone anymore.“You’re here now right?” They nodded, “Then that’s all that matters. I’ll see you at lunch?” They smiled and nodded again before leaving. You weren’t exactly sure if their new friendship was coming from a place of pity but you would take what you could get and they seemed sincere enough. You still weren’t sure. 

“You still never answered why you were doing all this?” You didn’t look at Cheryl as you said it, too scared by the new dynamic. You trusted her because how couldn’t you? She knew where you were going through, she knew what it felt like to be alone and what it felt like to be living on a ledge. You couldn’t see her doing anything out of pity. 

“It’s not the right time for me to give you the answer to that.” You did look at her then, worried but also suspicious. She kept looking forward, steadily avoiding your gaze. 

“What are you talking about? Not the right time?” Her gaze flickered towards you before returning forward. If it were anyone else you would say that she was nervous. 

“You won’t believe me.” Her voice was quiet like she didn’t want you to hear it. 

“I think I’ll believe anything you tell me as long as you’re looking at me.” You were shocked at how honest you were being but she deserved honesty. After everything you knew about what happened to her, from people around you and now her telling you herself, there was no way you could lie to her. 

She took a deep breath, the same way she did before telling you what happened at sweetwater river, and turned to look at you. The same unknown  emotion was in her eyes that you always saw before she turned away but now up close, it was almost debilitating how deep it was. “I like you. Romantically.” Your eyebrows raised and you were even more frozen than before. You opened your mouth to tell her that wasn’t possible, to tell her there was no way she could like someone like _you_  but she interrupted you before you could. “You’re so _strong_  and at first I thought I was jealous. That you could go through life and not care what people did or say to you. But after some soul searching, I realized it wasn’t jealousy it was admiration and how could that not turn into something more with how genuinely _amazing_  you are.” She shook her head and closed her eyes, she started to take a step back. “Sorry- I shouldn’t have-” 

You grabbed onto her arm before she could run away, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

She cautiously looked at you from under her eyelashes and shrugged, “I was scared. That you wouldn’t feel the same, that you would think I was just playing a trick on you.” 

You smiled with self deprecation clear in your expression. “Yea, the latter is extremely plausible.” Cheryl started to shuffle her feet, desperate to get away but still giving off an air of confidence. “I feel the same by the way. I have ever since I realized you weren’t like everyone else in this hell.” 

She looked up at you hopefully, “Really?”

You stepped closer, grabbing onto her hand instead of her arm. “Hey now, I’m supposed to be the one with trust issues.”

When Cheryl realized that you were being serious, she smiled and stepped even closer so your lips were almost touching. “Get in line sweetheart.” 

Your gaze flickered down to her mouth, “I’d like to kiss you if that’s alright?” 

She smirked and pulled back before you could get any closer, she tugged your hand and walked backwards. “You’ll have to take me on a date first.” 

You laughed and followed her, squeezing her hand as you did. “Off to Pop’s.” She smiled sweetly and you returned it easily. You both had darkness that you had to deal with but you had each other now, no longer alone in a world full of people. It was a feeling that you could get used to. 


End file.
